3:30 p.m. The wind shifted from blowing all the smoke from the Thomas Fire (now over 245,000 acres burned) offshore to inland . . . in a matter of a couple of hours, a clear day had moved to this. Our eyes are stinging and watering. It’s only going to get worse.

Yesterday’s image is on the left side of this panorama. On the right, you can see smouldering hillsides. The distance from right to left is easily 30 miles / 50 km. Beyond the towering smoke clouds the fire is moving into wilder territory which is harder to control and into Santa Barbara County. For reference purposes, Ventura County is the coastal county directly north of Los Angeles County.

To date, 230,000 acres burned, 1000 buildings destroyed. Here in Ventura County, there is a real concern that much of the economy is being destroyed as there are large swaths of orchards, citrus and avocados, which have been destroyed.

Today we went up to the Reagan Library to view the Thomas Fire from afar. Here, you can see it from the hills around Santa Paula, California, past Ventura on the coast, moving toward Carpinteria in Santa Barbara County. Nearly 200,000 acres have burned in 8 days through rough back country. Valiant efforts by fire fighters from around the country are helping, but here and elsewhere in Southern California houses and animals and people are all suffering.